RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Feb.10: Carrying Rs 15 lakh bounty on his head Maoist regional commander Duryodhan Mahto alias Mithilesh, today surrendered before the officials of Jharkhand Police and CRPF in the Jharkhand capital.
“Siddhant Kitabo Mein Rah Gaya Hai. Vyavhar Mein Nahi Dikhta Hai (Ideology has remained limited to books. Practically nothing is visible,” Mahto said after he surrendered in the presence of IG (operation) AV Homkar, Ranchi Zonal IG Pankaj Kamboj and CRPF IG B.K.Sharma at a programme organized at the Ranchi Zonal Office.
DIG (STF) Anup Birthare, SP Hazaribagh Manoj Ratan Chothe, Bokaro SP Chandan Jha and other police officers were present.
Homkar termed the surrender a big achievement for the police saying after Hitesh, Nandlal Manjhi, Karu Yadav, Krishna Manjhi Mahto is a big Maoist leader who surrendered after noticing that the organization deviated from its ideology.
He said as many as 104 cases are registered against Mahto. Out of 104 cases, 58 cases have been registered in Bokaro, 5 in Chatra, 4 in Seraikela, 3 in Khunti, 2 in Chaibasa, 26 in Hazaribagh, 1 in Dhanbad and 5 in Giridih. He is basically a resident of Gendnawadih of Topchanchi block of Dhanbad district, he added.
He had joined the Maoist organization in the 90s through a student organization. With the passage of time in the organization, his position was elevated. In 2001, he was appointed a member of the Jharkhand Regional Committee. In 2004, he secretly surrendered before the police in Baghmara. After coming out of Jail in 2013, he rejoined the organization after taking an apology from it. In the year 2018, he was again made a member of the Jharkhand Regional Committee and given the responsibility of Jilga Subzone.
While working in the organization, he was involved in many major incidents in different areas of Bokaro district. Mithilesh hit the headlines especially after the attack on the CRPF camp built on Jhumra mountain and in the incident of looting of arms by attacking the CISF barrack of Khasmahal.
On January 15, Mithilesh had separated from the Naxalite organization. The Chhotanagpur Zonal Committee, CPI Maoist organization had issued a pamphlet regarding this. In the pamphlet, it is alleged that Duryodhan, betraying the CPI-Maoist, ran away with his wife Nanki Koda alias Sujata at eight o’clock in the night of January 15.
He took away Rs 52.77 lakh cash besides a tablet and a mobile phone worth Rs 83 thousand and many other digital equipment with him. The organization suspended him from the membership of the Regional Committee and declared him a traitor. Mithilesh was in charge of the areas of Uparghat, Jhumra Pahar, Vishnugarh and Ramgarh (called Jilga Subzone) under the North Chotanagpur Zonal Committee.
